Soc.Culture.Jewish NewsgroupsFrequently Asked Questions
and Answers

Question 2.7: What are some of the Orthodox sub-groups?

The term "Traditional" has often been used as a synonym for Orthodox
(especially when using the dichotomy Traditional/Liberal). However in recent
years this useage has become less common: A faction broke off from the
Conservative movement, and took the name "The Union for Traditional Judaism"
(UTJ); its members are known as Traditional Jews. UTJ is a trans-denominational
organization, working with the broad spectrum of Jews, and is not part of
Modern Orthodoxy or any other denomination. Their "hashkafa" is in line with
what many people might think of as Modern Orthodox, although in some ways it
may be the left of standard Modern Orthodoxy and in other ways it may be to the
right of Modern Orthodoxy. They shun denominational lables in order to get
beyond the politics of religion, so that they can work with all Jews in
supporting the practice of halachic Judaism.

Note also that the Conservative movement in Israel and Europe is called
Masorti (Traditional) Judaism. As such, fewer people use the term "traditional"
without additional qualification, so as to avoid confusion. In the FAQ, the
term "traditional" (little-t) is used in the generic sense, while "Traditional"
(big-T) is used to refer to UTJ. "Masorti" is used to the Conservative Movement
in Israel and Europe.

The following are some of the major divisions within Orthodoxy:

"Centrist/modern/cosmopolitan" (colloquially [sometimes pejorative,
sometimes affectionate] "kipa sruga" [crocheted skull cap]) Orthodox usually
mean an Orthodoxy which approves of many aspects of secular culture, especially
secular education, in addition to traditional Torah study. They tend to be
Zionist. The precise term depends on the speaker - R' Norman Lamm uses
"centrist," R' Shlomo Riskin uses "cosmopolitan" and R' Emmanuel Rackman uses
"modern." The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, Yeshiva University, and
the Rabbinical Council of America in some sense represents this group. In
Israel, the Mizrachi organization is a well-known representative.

Some of the Liberal Orthodox/Open Orthodox/Modern Orthodox groups
include:

"Yeshivish" (colloquially, [sometimes pejorative, sometimes
affectionate] "black hat" or "black") suggests an Orthodox outlook in which the
focus of life is Torah study, as is done in Lithuanian-style Yeshivos. Secular
culture is either tolerated or criticized for its corrupting influences. This
group tends to be "non-Zionist" in the sense that they love the land of Israel
and its holiness (many spend years in Israel for Torah study), but are
unenthusiastic about secular Zionism and Israeli secular culture. In America,
Agudah Yisroel is yeshivish. In Israel, Agudah Yisroel is chassidic, and Degel
haTorah is yeshivish. This is partially because in America, the Agudah is a
communal organization that runs a number of charitable, humaniterean and
outreach projects and lobbies and advocates for the rights of Torah-observant
Jews and to protect and strengthen Torah observance. In Israel, on the other
hand, 'Agudath Israel' is a political party that holds seats in the parliament.
The Shas contingency are generally considered to be in the 'Charedei' camp.

Some examples of such Orthodox groups include the following:

The Rabbinical Alliance of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(One of the rabbinic organizations in the former Soviet Union)
http://www.fjc.ru/.

In Israel, the "Dati/Chareidi" distinction is more a matter of attitude
towards Zionism than of political affiliation or religious views. The Dati tend
to be more supportive of Zionism, with the Chareidi not having much belief in
the modern Jewish state. Please note that these are general positions;
individual members may hold different views and your milage may vary. Note that
there are lots of debates over these classifications, so nothing here is cast
in stone.

Some other useful resources to explore the wide variety of Orthodox
Judaism include:

The FAQ is a collection of documents that is an attempt
to answer questions that are continually asked on the soc.culture.jewish family
of newsgroups. It was written by cooperating laypeople from the various Judaic
movements. You should not make any assumption as to accuracy
and/or authoritativeness of the answers provided herein. In all cases, it is
always best to consult a competent authority--your local rabbi is a good place
to start.

Hopefully, the FAQ will provide the answer to your questions.
If it doesn't, please drop Email to questions@scjfaq.org. The FAQ maintainer
will endeavor to direct your query to an appropriate individual that can answer
it. If you would like to be part of the group to which the maintainer directs
questions, please drop a note to the FAQ maintainer at
maintainer@scjfaq.org.